The Other Man
by paperspiral
Summary: SabretoothxOC. How does Creed handle the prospect of another man in his wife's life? While my Victor/Emma stories don't proceed on a timeline, if you want to read them in written order this is story 5.
1. Chapter 1

**Sabretooth and Birdy belong to Marvel, all others are of my own creation.**

**Reviews and constructive criticism welcome.**

"Where is she?"

"Where's who, boss?" Birdy mumbled absently as she bent over the computer screen, sifting through business opportunities.

"My wife! Where the hell is Emma?" Creed shouted angrily, startling his assistant. This was the third time in a row where he had returned home to find her missing. It was an unspoken rule that she be available to him once he got home from business to field his whims and needs for the past decade at least. While it irritated him that she wasn't home to greet him, it infuriated him that he hadn't been able to get any answers from her when she did show up.

"I-I don't know." Birdy looked at him helplessly.

Creed approached her menacingly and bent down to hover less than an inch from her face, fury sparking from his green eyes. "I will be in the tub downstairs. The second she waltzes in, send her to me." He enunciate slowly and punctuated with a growl. Birdy gulped to confirm his orders before he stalked off. "And take care o' my suitcase!"

ooooo

Emma pulled through the front gates and slowed as she saw Birdy standing on the porch by the door. Parking the car in the garage, she emerged to meet the blond waiting in the chilly spring air.

"He wants to see you downstairs in the tub room. He's really scary pissed." Birdy shivered, either from the cold or fear. "Do you want me to come down with you?"

Emma felt the lump in her stomach tighten but she shook her head and tried to give a reassuring smile. "No, it's fine. I'll be fine." Her friend nodded unconvinced and they walked in together. Birdy took her coat and purse while Emma gave a wave and made her way to the basement steps that were lined with wall mounted body parts and deadly weapons, down to the elaborate tub room and sauna. She could hear her own heart flapping like a bird caught in a small cage and her husband's tapping claws on tile.

He sat in the water, a cigarette lit and dangling between the fingers of his right hand. His eyes were sharp and watched her as she touched down on the last step. They were silent. He didn't need to say anything. The quiet was the calm before the storm. Emma closed the door to keep the heat in and flashed him a guilty smile while undressing. She tucked her clothes in a neat pile on top of a chair that sat in the corner of the room. She could feel his eyes boring into her back, angrily. As her toe dipped into the water in the opposite corner of the in-set tub he broke the silence with a bark.

"Don't you dare. Get yer ass over here, immediately."

Emma froze, her arms covering her breasts, her legs glued together. It took her only a second to force her body to move again and she walked around the tub and knelt beside him on the tiles, they were cold against her bare skin.

Creed stubbed the butt of his cigarette out in the ashtray then grabbed her right forearm, pulling her to him, holding her over the water as she couldn't support herself in such a position. His teeth were centimetres from her throat but it was his nose that was engaged. He sniffed her neck, her face, her hair. He lingered there for a second, breathing deeply, making sure not to miss a smell. Finally he pushed her back and she landed in a sprawl. He was bent over her, still up to his thighs in water. He continued his assault by catching the scent around her breasts, over her stomach, then he forced her legs apart and the sudden contact of his nose on her in such a delicate area made her jump about a foot. He held her down and did a double sniff again as he had her hair. Creed glared at her while he smelled her. It another situation, with other feelings involved, it would have been arousing, but no matter what the truth, if he had any suspicions, she wouldn't be able to talk him out of them.

"Where were you?" Victor didn't break eye contact, but he did release her and sat back down in the tub among the fading bubbles. She had passed his test.

Emma took a deep breath of relief, slipping into the water and moving to kneel in front of him. She didn't want to be in the bath but it wasn't her choice anymore. "I was out shopping."

"You used that excuse last time, and the time before that. You didn't buy anything then, you didn't buy anything now." It must have been a bad job in Miami, he wanted to flex his brain and show her that he wasn't some dumb animal. "You didn't go out to lunch, you didn't have a doctor's appointment, or a dentist's appointment. You didn't see a movie, you didn't go to the park." All of these things he could tell by her smell. She didn't have the scent of food or latex or popcorn or crowds. She smelled like she had been in the company of a man, though not in an intimate way. He was jealous all the same.

"I was at the university, talking with an advisor. I was thinking of going back to school." The slap was resounding and his claws dragged across her cheek, filling the trenches with blood instantly.

"Don't fuckin' lie ta me, frail!" It was like it had never happened, the water was calm, the air was charged. Blood was dripping down Emma's cheek and staining the bubble bath pink.

"I'm not lying." Emma breathed, holding her cheek. "I _was_ at the university."

Creed reached out again, quicker than a man should be able to, and grabbed her around the throat, squeezing and feeling her vocal chords squirm under his grip. "You stink of another man!" His roar echoed over the tiled room, up the stairs, and into Birdy's ears and mind, making her shiver.

Emma couldn't respond, she could only thrash in the water, trying to breath in air through her strangled throat. She didn't want to, as it would incur repercussion, but she needed to breathe. Emma connected her foot squarely into Victor's crotch with as much force as she could focus. The water washed over her and rushed into her lungs as she was dropped into the tub at the same time as she gasped for oxygen. She came up sputtering and coughing, reaching out to get as far away as possible from him before he recovered and found her body with his claws and teeth. She didn't get far and he grabbed a fistful of her hair, ripping her back into his grasp, pressed against his chest while his hands found her throat again.

But she still couldn't breathe, there was too much water still stuck in her lungs and she choked violently in his arms. Creed released his grip on her throat but continued to hold her briefly while she struggled. Finally he pushed her away and lifted his heavy frame out of the water while Emma found purchase on the other side of the tub, beaching herself on the tile while her eyes watered and she continued to cough out the water.

He was gone, leaving wet footprints on the stairs and a trail of droplets as he walked through the house back to the bedroom. Birdy replaced his presence and helped pick up her friend from the floor, wrapping a fluffy yellow towel around her and softly patting her back to get the water out. They sat on the floor in a puddle of quickly cooling water for a while after the coughing subsided, Birdy holding her and gently stroking her hair.

"He wants you upstairs." She whispered. Emma nodded and rose to her feet with help. The towel hung loosely around her body and she made her way up the stairs slowly, not trusting her legs so soon after nearly being left unconscious. Birdy did not follow her up to the second floor, but instead returned to the sauna to clean up the mess and avoid hearing the noises that would come from the bedroom.

Creed was pulling on his pyjama bottoms with his back to her when she entered. Emma fished out a t-shirt he had discarded from the dirty laundry hamper to wear to bed, in hopes that smell of himself around her would prevent any further attack.

He snapped his fingers once and clearly, meant as an order for her to come to him immediately. Emma complied, the path of least resistance would get her through this nightmare much quicker.

"You clearly don't remember who ya belong to so yer sleepin' on the floor t'night." Creed didn't even bother looking at her, instead he was lacing the draw strings on his cotton pants. He finally gave her a challenging glare before moving the covers aside and crawling into the warm bed himself. Emma stood awkwardly at his bedside. Snapping his fingers a second time, he pointed to the spot on the floor beside the bed.

"I'm not a dog." Emma held the collar of her makeshift nightgown up and bunched at her reddened throat. Creed began to get up from the bed, but Emma fell down to her knees quietly and tried to find a comfortable space on her side. She remembered the first and last time she had tried to stand up for herself in face of this non-painful but highly humiliating punishment, Victor has chased her down with his belt, gave her a great crack across her backside then tackled her and tied her up with it before literally dragging her to the spot she now lay in.

The lights went out and there was silence.


	2. Chapter 2

**Sabretooth and Birdy belong to Marvel, all others are of my own creation.**

**Reviews and constructive criticism welcome.**

Did she get up and pretend last night didn't happen, or did she continue to lie on the cold floor until he woke up? Emma shivered again and heard him shift in bed. He would not be up for a while yet. She made a decision then stood up, making her way to the washroom.

She let out a sigh in relief as her bladder relaxed then went to the faucet to wash her hands and face. Her reflection made her look ill and her body told her she was sore and exhausted.

The door opened noiselessly as she turned the knob and she was forced to look up at her husband as he towered over her in the door frame, just waiting for her to emerge.

They stared at each other until finally Emma told him she hated him in a vehement tone. Creed laughed softly at her, pulling her out of his way and slamming the bathroom door shut in her face.

She sat down in front of the balcony doors and let the morning sun warm her skin while he took a shower. Thankfully he would be gone before lunch on another flight far away on business. Suddenly she felt his overbearing presence behind her and she cursed his stealth.

"I'll be leavin' in a bit and you'll be stayin'. In fact, you'll be stayin' right here in this room until I get back. I don't care if the house is burnin' down, you don't leave this room." Creed bent down, his wet hair dripping down her shoulder, under her shirt and around the crevice of her breasts. "Do I make myself clear?" He didn't need an answer but he gave her a sharp tug on her hair to impress his order on her.

In an instant he had disappeared, his presence no longer hovering over her like looming Death. She started to breath again, not realizing the pain in her lungs until her first intake of breath.

Emma hadn't bothered to move even hours later as she watched Birdy drive Creed to the airport. She would be joining him on this bit of business so had left Emma with some food stuffs in the room, hoping it would keep her fed without having to break his rule and be punished.

Finally she unfurled herself from her fetal position, much to the anger from her knees, and made her way to the shower. The claw marks across her face had healed fairly well but the scars were still lightly visible in the light. She washed her hair, and then washed it again. She stood under the flowing water nearly ten minutes before even considering how to go about her day.

First she pulled all the old sheets off the bed then she put down fresh new sheets. Then she vacuumed. The bathroom was cleaned and Emma threw all the dirty laundry into a basket and left the bedroom.

She started the washer and left to go clean the kitchen and downstairs rooms, which took the better part of the day. She finished with Victor's study by dusting and straightening and cleaning the ashes out of the fireplace. When she looked up, it was nearly 6pm and she hadn't eaten a thing yet. As she brought up the fresh laundry, she dialed her mobile and pressed it up to her ear.

ooooo

"He's a good enough guy, really." Emma said and took a bite of her pasta.

"See, I'm not sure you understand what 'good' actually means. He made you sleep on the floor after strangling you and cutting up your face. And then he demanded you remain in the bedroom for five days." The man replied animatedly, even if in low tones while in the restaurant. He hadn't yet touched his chicken.

"Excuse me all to hell for defending my husband, Gavin." She replied sarcastically before reaching for her wine. Gavin raised his hands defensively.

"You haven't told him about me then?" It didn't sound like a question so Emma didn't respond, the answer was obvious. "Why don't you just leave him?"

She looked up at him, he looked young for thirty-four, his reddish-blond hair had not yet thinned or grayed. He had a lot of wrinkles around his blue eyes from smiling. "Victor has a particularly well honed talent for hunting. There's no where I could run to that could keep me safe from him." It was her calm and resigned tone that made him react so strongly then.

"Your blind devotion to this man has me completely baffled!"

Emma couldn't help but laugh out loud to that. "You're baffled over blind devotion? You're a priest for Christ's sake!"

They were both silent. "I'm not exactly the model of priesthood lately, as you know."

She nodded conceit and they continued their dinner in a more jovial attitude.

ooooo

Emma was home this time when Creed returned, however she was very far from the bedroom and showed no signs of caring. She was on the couch curled up with a book by the fire place, warding off the chill that entered the house as soon as the door was opened.

Creed kicked off his shoes at the front door then stalked to the end of the couch down the long hallway.

"This doesn't look like the bedroom." He growled.

"I'm reading, be quiet." Emma snapped, not bothering to look up. She was rubbing her temple trying to focus on the page in front of her.

Creed crept closer and sat beside her feet, which were up on the couch. He licked his lips and rubbed his hands together but didn't look at her.

"Maybe," he started, "maybe I'm goin' about this the wrong way." Emma didn't respond. "I don't control you and you can do as ya please, but I would hope that you would never do anythin' t'hurt me…and make me hurt you back." He had stretched out with his arms along the back of the couch now and was watching her.

"You've hurt me more than I can ever make up." Emma turned the page of her book and continued to ignore his stare. Finally Creed snatched the book from her hands and threw it across the room, smashing a vase in the process. Emma's face contorted in rage and she managed a fierce slap across his face before he could react.

It took a moment before Creed could feel it. It didn't hurt, it burned. His face felt like it was on fire. He reached up to find the source but was disappointed to find nothing on his skin, the burning amplified as he touched the path of her slap.

"What did you do?" He pressed his palms into his face making it worse. Emma looked startled herself and she ran to pick up a vase left unbroken and pulled the flowers out.

"Victor, look at me!" She shouted with urgency. He complied confused, his face bright red and his eyes watering. She threw the water from the vase into his face, making him sputter and blink. The pain subsided almost immediately.

Creed could only stare at her incredulously. "What was that?"

"It's what's going to happen to your balls the next time you piss me off!" Emma smashed the porcelain vase on the ground at her feet and marched off.


	3. Chapter 3

**Sabretooth and Birdy belong to Marvel, all others are of my own creation.**

**Reviews and constructive criticism welcome.**

There was something far too intimate in what she was doing. Angry with his wife, Creed had called Birdy into the tub room to work through his knotted muscles. It's not like she hadn't seen her employer without his trousers on, but when he and Emma were fighting, it felt like a whole new level of being wrong to her.

The batteries were dying on her hand held massager and it was not having the effect they both needed. Birdy shook the little machine irritably but it hummed to stop and finally died.

Strangely, Creed hadn't noticed. He was too busy stewing in the bath and chewing on his thoughts.

"Birdy!" He barked suddenly, startling his assistant. "You n' Emma, yer close."

"As much as I would love to les up your wife, it's not going to happen." She untwisted the cap and shook out the batteries into her hand.

"What?" He turned in the bath water to stare at her.

"Nevermind. I'm out of batteries." Birdy raised her hand to change the subject. Creed waved her off and turned back around.

"Did she ever tell ya what her mutant powers were?" His claws tapped on the tile a moment before grabbing his beer and taking a long pull.

"Yeah, once I think." Trying to distance herself from him, she stood to look for batteries in the closet. "She explained it as 'surviving'."

He snorted in response. "What kinda power is that?"

"I didn't get it at the time, but I've lived with the two of you for about five years now, and I think I'm starting to get it." She mumbled more to herself as she found new batteries and added them to the massage device.

"Whaddya mean?"

"If you think of the strange things you've seen her do and try to connect them together, it won't make any sense, but if you consider that her powers are to keep her alive at all costs, it's not so far fetched." Birdy shrugged while shutting the closet door with her back.

He tried to think of an instance where her reasoning would fail and came up short. "That's the dumbest thing I've ever heard."

His assistant knelt down again behind him and started the little machine to work on his shoulders again, but was cut short when the buzzing irritated him and he grabbed it from her and threw it across the little room, making it shatter into hard plastic pieces.

Exacerbated, Birdy got up again and made her way to the door. "Hey!" Creed barked. "If her mutant power ain't a healin' factor…what's endin' her pregnancies?"

She wasn't used to such an emotional question from her murdering, sociopath of a boss, but this didn't stop her from responding sarcastically, "Maybe her powers are protecting the kid from you?"

oooo

"Prize jackass." Emma grumbled as she took an ice pack out of the freezer and applied it to Birdy's head where Creed's beer bottle landed, spilling the rest of his drink all over her as the glass shattered. The bleeding had stopped but she was going to have a nasty goose egg. "You should take a vacation soon, we have that apartment in New York, or you could take a trip home?"

"You don't get to decide when she gets time off." The kitchen door swung open and Victor strutted in holding a towel up around his waist. He stalked to the fridge and pulled out a new beer then left again, staring at them both angrily.

"You can go whenever you want, and for as long as you need." Emma reassured her friend.

"No she can't!" He shouted from somewhere on the staircase as he made his way back to the bedroom.

"It's fine." Birdy replied in a resigned voice. She sat back grouchily, holding the ice pack to her head. "So who's this guy you're seeing?"

"What makes you think I'm seeing a guy?" Emma looked up from the table where she was playing with the salt shaker.

"Mister Creed was pretty loud the other night."

"He's just some young, handsome, rich man whom I'm having a torrid love affair with and he's promised to take me away from here and fly me to Europe." Emma sighed dreamily, hoping Victor heard her and was irritated, but was undeniably joking.

"Does he have a brother?" Birdy replied with a half smile.

"We should go out to dinner."

"Not with this bump on my head."

"Come on, we'll get dressed up, shoot some guys down, eat some expensive food, go dancing." Emma pressed. "We'll put it all on his credit card."

The both smiled deviously at each other.

oooo

"Where'd you get that?" He meant the dress.

Emma was fitting a duster earring into her right ear in the mirror but turned to answer him. "I bought it for our anniversary two years ago. One of the ones you didn't show up for?"

Victor was pacing the bedroom, flipping through TV channels and keeping an eye on her.

"I don't want you goin' out tonight. Weather's shit."

To be fair, he had a point. The rain was coming down in sheets, but that only posed a problem for their hair and clothes, and where Emma had planned to take them had indoor parking.

"No. We're not having this argument." She secured a loose hair pin then adjusted her cleavage. Birdy met her at the top of the stairs in a short, dark blue dress and they both ignored Creed as he growled from his place next to the banister.

The blonde visibly relaxed as Emma eased the car out of the driveway and off the property into the heart of downtown.

"You're right, I needed this."

oooo

Victor was busy checking Emma's mobile phone history. He had lifted it from her purse while she had been in the shower. Nothing out of the ordinary appeared to him, there were all calls to the house, calls to Birdy, calls to him. He frowned when he realized he had been going backwards, and he came across a recently called number labeled 'Gavin'. He pressed TALK.

"Hello?" A male voice asked after the third ring. "Em? Is that you? Hello?"

The phone was promptly crushed in one clawed hand and an angry roar vibrated the house while the rain continued to fall outside.


	4. Chapter 4

**Sabretooth and Birdy belong to Marvel, all others are of my own creation.**

**Reviews and constructive criticism welcome.**

Birdy was giggling into Emma's ear as they sat with a drink at the bar waiting for a table to open up. The bartender was smiling, sharing the joke between then. The music was just a little too loud so their conversations slipped in and out of telepathy. The last thing they expected was for the door of the restaurant to be ripped off its hinges and a wild-eye Sabretooth to be foaming at the mouth, hunting for them.

Even the drunk customers knew well enough to scream and scatter away from the clawed lunatic who had barged in to their shelter from the storm outside. The tables even flew out of his way when he spotted his wife staring at him shocked at the bar. In five thunderous steps he was in front of her, grabbing her by the wrist and flinging her into the wall of windows at the front of the house.

Birdy screamed then.

Ignoring her, Creed went to fetch his wife, she was sputtering rain and blood as the glass pieces cut every inch of her as she tried to get to her hands and knees. She had hit a parking meter square in the back as she sailed through the window and it felt as though a rib or three were broken.

He was standing over her again, the deluge of rain washing down his shoulders and running down his hands as he grabbed her up again by the flimsy straps of her dress. The left one snapped so he caught a hold of her around her neck.

Emma finally came around, her head light from the impact. Her green eyes widened with terror and he could see himself reflected in them. Creed slammed her into the car that was parked at the meter she had just hit, once, twice, three times.

He could finally hear Birdy screaming at him to stop and sirens blaring down the street. Emma was unconscious, her face cut up and her body bleeding everywhere. He felt a cold rush hit the back of his head, rushing down his spinal cord. His assistant was trying to dampen his rage and slowly it was working.

His wife was released and he braced himself again the dented car, coming down from his feral high. Birdy wrapped herself around Emma protectively and shouted at him to get lost. He didn't like her tone but the advice was sound, the cops would be here shortly and though he would enjoy it, he didn't need the hassle of a police officer massacre right now.


	5. Chapter 5

**Sabretooth and Birdy belong to Marvel, all others are of my own creation.**

**Reviews and constructive criticism welcome.**

The police came to the house to fetch him. Regardless of whether Emma would be pressing charges, there was still the matter of destroying public and private property. Creed's rage had subsided but his anger still remained and though no one had the physical power to make him obey, the consequences of not following the law in his home city would never let him rest in peace. Secretly, he also believed that being caged overnight may be best for him anyway.

Apparently Emma had not regained consciousness until the next morning when the officer bearing distaste on his face unlocked the cell door and informed him that she would not be pressing charges, however he was still to appear in court later that month regarding charges for property damages and that the restaurant would likely be filing a civil suit.

Creed only grunted in response and went to the now familiar front desk of the jail to sign out his personal belongings back to him. He chose to walk the 23 kilometres back home over calling a cab, or Birdy. There were puddles along most of the highway from the rains the night before and quickly his jean legs were soaked and his socks squished in his boots. At one point, a car came too close and splashed him and he could pick up their peels of laughter as the motorist zoomed by. Victor banked their scents for later with a growl.

By kilometre 12 he finally flipped open his mobile phone and dialed Birdy.

"Yeah boss." She sounded exhausted.

"Bring a car around t'pick me up, would ya? I'm on highway 99 somewhere between the police station and home." He hoped she could hear him over the brief gusts of winds that were kicking up because he hated repeating himself.

"I'm at the hospital right now." Birdy replied in a stubborn tone.

"Lovely," he replied sarcastically, "now come bring the car." The phone beeped off and he buried it into a jacket pocket.

oooo

Birdy was dead silent and her face was a mask of anger, but he chose to ignore her. Instead of dropping him off however, she returned to the hospital and left him sitting in the car in the parkade. His door slammed loudly as he got out of the car and stalked inside, following her scent up to the sixth floor.

Emma was tucked into one of the beds in the room. The other was occupied by an older woman who seemed interested in his presence, but his wife ignored him while Birdy sat back down at her side.

She looked like hell. Half of her face was a giant, purple bruise with a wide cut sewn up across the bridge of her nose. The smell of cast plaster indicated her broken ribs, and wrist, and he could see minute, healing cuts all over her chest and neck. Her healing factor was trying, but it was nothing compared to his own.

"Could you ask him to leave please?" The hoarse whisper escaped her lips and his eyes darted to her red, swollen throat. Birdy nodded and stared at him, frowning.

A snarl curled out of his own mouth and instead he grabbed his assistant by the upper arm and flung her out of his way so that he could stand next to the bed over his wife. Emma didn't dare look up and she tried to cover her head with the sheets, but her broken bones restricted her movement significantly. Creed fought her until she shouted that she didn't want him to see her like this.

Birdy pulled at his arm and in his shocked state, he obliged until he was out in the hallway with the hospital room door shut behind them softly.

"You nearly killed her last night and for some retarded reason, she still loves you." She breathed and found the gall to poke him in the chest with a finger, hard. "I don't fucking understand it, but if you hurt her again, I'm going to microwave your brain until you're nothing more than a joke, sitting in diapers and drooling on yourself."

She tried to walk away but Creed grabbed her by the throat and slammed her into the wall. He didn't bother with a threat of his own, or even so much as a growl. She knew what he was capable of, he didn't need to articulate it. Slowly she was lifted up against the wall until her eyes were level with his glowing white ones, and her feet were many inches off the floor. "You seem to forget that she's my wife, not yours."

Dropping her, he turned and left the hospital, this time taking a cab home.


	6. Chapter 6

**Sabretooth and Birdy belong to Marvel, all others are of my own creation.**

**Reviews and constructive criticism welcome.**

After a week Emma was released from the hospital and arrived home with barely a scratch left on her. The house was still and empty, presumably work had called both her friend and her husband away. She breathed in and let go of a sigh.

As she started the washer, the house phone rang. Emma picked up a handset and cradled it to her ear while measuring out the liquid detergent.

"Hey, I've been trying to get a hold of you for days." Gavin's voice filled her ear.

"I've told you never to call this number."

"I know, but like I was saying, I couldn't get you for days and I was worried. You missed our date." Ruffling papers in the background distracting him.

"Yeah well, I've been busy with a jealous husband. Did you call the house last week?" Her tone was accusatory as she stuffed Creed's shirts into the washer. Distracted, she didn't feel his presence when he came up behind her and pinned her against the big machine.

"Is that him?" Victor barked, trying to grab the phone from her. Emma dropped the it as Gavin was replying that he had received a call from her mobile.

The clattering against tile made him pull the phone away from his ear. "Emma?" He heard a sharp yell being cut off by a slap, and then more clattering.

"Victor! Get off of me!" They wrestled on the floor of the laundry room, his thumb pressed into the shallow valley of her throat as he pinned her with the bulk of his weight. She stopped fighting and only stared up at him angrily, the phone silent. Creed removed his hand from her throat and braced himself by placing both palms on either side of her head on the floor. They stared at each other until finally he let her up by stalking out of the room.

Rubbing her cheek, which was reddened from his open handed slap, Emma picked up the phone and punched in the number to the line she was just on. Gavin picked up after half a ring. "I'm sorry, we were cut off. You were saying something about getting a call from me last week?" She leaned against the cool wall, sitting on the floor in her sweat pants and tank top.

"Are you alright?"

"Gavin..."

"You should call the police."

"Can we get back to my question?" She stood up and finished loading the washer as though she hadn't been interrupted by a violent act. The noise from the running machine made her carry the phone out into the hallway where she found her husband sitting on the stair, listening to not only her end of the conversation, but most likely picking up on his end too. She narrowed her eyes at him.

"Well the caller ID said it was your number but no one was on the other end. Then we were cut off. You're cell phone has been dead ever since."

"Funny, I _lost_ my phone." Victor's head turned slightly as her voice formed into an unfamiliar growl.

"Well maybe someone found it and was goofing off then." Gavin's voice sounded suspicious but he didn't press. "So, did you want to make up that dinner date tonight?"

"Tonight? That sounds great. I'll meet you at the usual place? Seven?" Emma clicked the phone off then sauntered over to the stairs. She leaned down over his hulking figure until her lips were level with his ear. "If it's alright with you, I'm going out tonight, and you are going to leave me the fuck alone."

oooo

"You look good." Gavin smiled, visibly relaxing as Emma walked through the door of the restaurant. They kissed briefly before he pulled out a chair for her at their table. He had already ordered wine for them both.

"You look different without your collar on, father." Her smile widened helplessly before she fidgeted with the menu.

"Thanks, I'm trying out the civilian lifestyle. You think it suits?" He brushed his rusty hair back behind his ears then quickly adjusted his jacket.

"Of course, you look fine." A waitress came over with a shining face and informed them of the that night's special and they ordered. "So, I take it that you're leaning towards leaving the priesthood."

"I don't know what I'm going to do yet. I'm really not qualified to do anything else, but I feel like I'm missing out on so much."

"It sounds tired and trite," she took a sip of her glass before continuing. "But the grass is always greener on the other side."

"Yeah, that's not really as helpful as you might think it is." Gavin smiled politely and sat back in his chair. "Do you know how annoying it is to listen to 18-year-olds obsess over the most trivial things? These kids that I'm supposed to be shepherding are having a significantly better time with their lives than I am."

"So transfer."

"I didn't always work on campus you know, it's the same everywhere. I think it's time I lived a real life, let myself fret over what I did last night or whether she'll call me back or not." He laughed lightly.

"Well it's your decision to make, I'm here to support you." Emma squeezed his hand gently and changed the topic.

oooo

Shaking his keys out, Gavin found the building key and whipped open the door to the dorms and jumped out of the rain that had started up as he was driving home. His dinner was not sitting well in his stomach and he really needed to get to the washroom without delay.

Several students waved to him as he tried not to jog to his own room down the hall of the first floor and he fumbled with his keys again. Locking the door behind him, he kicked off his shoes and started to make his way to the bathroom, walking through an icy cold puddle of water on the way. That made him stop. Checking the ceiling, he was unable to find the source of the leak until something solid connected with his back and he went sailing into his cramped living room, landing over the back of the couch.

Someone large and strong grabbed the lapels of his jacket and pulled him upright. Gavin reached into his coat pocket and found the pepper spray he kept for security and started spraying wildly at his unknown attacker.

"Shit, that stings!" He was dropped and the intruder stumbled back a few paces, quickly recovering.

"Get out of my house or I'll do it again!" Gavin kept the nozzle aimed while making it to the far wall and flicking on the light switch.

He was big, he was blond, he was pissed. His attacker let out an inhuman roar and reached out for the priest's hand, crushing it around the can of pepper spray and causing him great pain. Gavin howled as he was sent through the door to the bedroom from a back handed slap.

"What do you want?" Blood dripped from his nose and lips while he craddled his broken hand.

"I wanna disembowel ya and sprinkle yer innards around the apartment." Creed grinned maliciously and began sharpening his claws together. Until his mobile phone rang. He grabbed Gavin by the ankle and dragging him forward while answering the phone.

"Victor, where are you?" Emma shouted into his ear.

"Nowhere." He grunted while dangling the priest by the leg for fun.

"If you touch a hair on his head, so help me..."

"No idea what you're talkin' about."

"Victor, don't hurt him!"

"Why shouldn't I?" Creed roared into the phone, finally dropping Gavin to the ground, letting the man fold up on himself for protection.

"You idiot! You big fucking idiot! Who do you think he is?" She raged.

"A priest?"

"Come. Home. Now." The sound of silence told him that she had hung up, expecting her request to be fulfilled. Creed crouched down and bent into Gavin's terrified face, fangs bared.

"Stay away from my wife." His order was quietly savage. The door banged open as the brute left.


	7. Chapter 7

**Sabretooth and Birdy belong to Marvel, all others are of my own creation.**

**Reviews and constructive criticism welcome.**

"You got some nerve callin' me up in the middle of a kill." Victor's eyes shone in the moon light as he crept in through the sliding doors of the back, into the kitchen. His wife didn't respond. A beer was fetched from the fridge before he cracked it open with his hand and sat heavily across from her at the kitchen island.

"It's not easy being married to you." She admitted around her tea cup, she had yet to look him in the eye.

Creed nodded in agreement. "But you are, and I expect a lot outta you. What am I not givin' you that you gotta run to some other guy for? A man o' th' cloth no less." He left his drink untouched and watched her little movements, trying to ferret out truths.

"When did I lose your trust?" Finally she raised her green eyes to his.

"You never had it." They stared at each other for a heartbeat.

"I didn't realise you thought so little of me. I don't want to be in a marriage like that." She pushed her mug away from her and went to stand, but he caught her wrist and made her stop and look at him.

"You askin' for a divorce?"

"I'm asking you to smarten the hell up, or get out of my life." Emma reclaimed her wrist and left the kitchen.

oooo

Creed had flown down to Washington on business the week before and it was raining there as much as it was raining at home. The hunt kept his mind occupied enough during the night, but by day he was beginning to see what a mess he would become if his wife left him. His appetite was sparse and he hadn't managed a stretch of sleep in days. If it weren't for his healing factor, he would have been hallucinating by now - thankfully though, Victor was keeping his shit together.

Birdy had called him depressed last night while they were perched on rooftop overlooking the downtown streets trying to catch a break. Creed had called her a cow.

She was knocking on his door now. "I know you're awake in there. Let's grab a bite before we head out tonight." His assistant kept the knocking up until he was forced to rip open his hotel door in irritation just to get her to stop.

They didn't talk over dinner. For once, Birdy was minding her own business. She had cleared her throat a few times, but if she was going to say anything, she didn't. Creed pushed his vegetables around on his plate with a claw in between bites of steak. The family restaurant was over crowded and loud, but his target was sitting two tables over and it just made his life easier eating in that dump.

"How ya'll doin'?" The waitress came over.

"Is that a real Texas accent?" He sneered at her.

"No, management makes us fake it, something about it sounding friendlier." Her accent dropped as did her smile and you could tell she was exhausted.

Creed shrugged and replied that everything was fine, permitting her to paste the smile back on her face and attend to other patrons.

"You're fun tonight."

"We're here to work, not sightsee, Birdy." He growled.

"Well, speaking of work - he's leaving." She wiped her mouth on her napkin and watched their target get up from his table and escort his wife and two young children to the counter to settle the bill.

"Finish your dinner."

"Yes, dad." Birdy replied sarcastically and picked up her fork again.

oooo

"Didja have to kill the dog too?" Birdy complained as they exited the residence and made their way back to the hotel.

"Bastard bit me."

It was only a few blocks to the main street and after ten minutes of waiting in silence, a cab appeared and Creed was able to flag it down. It smelled in the back but the cabbie was silent until it was time to pay the fair. Birdy opened the door to the hotel for her boss then called the elevator.

A young couple boarded the carriage with them and Creed wondered what they were doing together. She was neat and pleasant looking while he was dressed like a slob with his baggy jeans around his ass, chains hanging all over him and his hair dyed black and brushed over his face. His mouth hung open slightly like a neanderthal. No one seemed to notice the blood stains all over Victor's pants and coat. Birdy was humming to herself, adjusting her hair in the mirrored walls of the elevator.

Their floor arrived and Creed pushed rudely through the kids, making sure to elbow the punk in the chest, making him shout and wheeze. Birdy tried to suppress a giggle.

They both stood outside their respective hotel doors, Creed gripped his key card in one hand but hovered in front of the lock. Birdy watched him.

"You're not gonna say anything about this whole mess?" He breathed.

"You made it clear that your marriage was none of my business." She shrugged while pulling out her key card. His face contorted into an emotion she couldn't identify but his thoughts begged for words of reassurance. However this time, Birdy was all out of advice to dispense and she unlocked her door and slid inside, leaving him in the hall.

Shoulders lack, he opened his own hotel room door and made his way to the bed where he sat dejectedly for a moment before picking up the phone and dialing home. With every click of the line his heart jumping, thinking Emma had picked up, but finally after the fifth ring, his answering service attended his call. A long message of silence was left until he could muster the will to hang up on his end.

Birdy opened the door that connected their rooms together and leaned into the door frame, still silent.

"Should I book tickets home for tonight or tomorrow?"

"Tonight, I want t'sleep in my own bed."


	8. Chapter 8

**Sabretooth****and****Birdy****belong****to****Marvel****, ****all****others****are****of****my****own****creation****.**

**Reviews****and****constructive****criticism****welcome****.**

It was close to midnight before the plane left the runway. There was no first class on the jet as they made their way back to Vancouver. Birdy was immersed in her romance novel when Creed stood up and opened the overhead compartment, routing around for his bag. Finally finding it, he unzipped one of the compartments and pulled out a pen and hotel stationary while stuffing the bag back inside and clicking the door shut. Birdy tried not to mind as he pushed his way past her again back to his window seat.

He unlocked the tray table, squared his paper, clicked his pen, then hovered over the sheets waiting for inspiration. Birdy watched him out of the corner of her eye. Creed's eyes focused intently on the page, his claw tapping on the barrel of the pen.

"What'cha writing, boss?"

"A letter to the editor." Finally his pen started to flow across the paper, slowly, deliberately. He kept an arm around his letter, blocking her view for the most part. She tried to go back to her novel but her curiosity won out.

"You have really nice handwriting. Where'd you learn to write like that?" Birdy tried the seldom used tactic of flattery to tweeze out some information on what he was doing so secretively.

"Emma." He grunted distracted. He was stuck again and searching for words.

"Emma taught you how to write?" She replied incredulously as the flight attendant approached their aisle with his cart. Creed ordered a beer and motioned for his assistant to pay the man. Birdy passed altogether on a drink but took a package of cookies.

"And read."

"Are you kidding me?" Birdy blinked at him. His face stared back taking on an offended look. "I'm sorry, it just didn't occur to me that you two have been together _that_ long."

"Can I get back to writin' this now?"

They both settled back down into silence while Victor balled up the sheet he had been working on and threw it at her, pulling the next piece of paper closer to him to start again. Birdy tucked it away innocently to read later and picked up her book again.

oooo

She awoke to the smell of cigarette smoke. Her clock said 4:13am and Birdy groaned, mashing her pillow over her head trying to pretend Mister Creed wasn't standing in her room smoking. Finally she sat up and found him staring out her window, wearing the same clothes he had on the plane. He wasn't saying anything which irritated her more.

"Can I _help_ you?"

"Shut yer yap Birdy." He blew a stream of smoke from his lips and flicked the butt of the cigarette, knocking ashes on to her carpet.

"Fine. I'm going back to sleep." However with him standing there, albeit ignoring her, his presence kept her muscles tense and she couldn't relax enough to fall asleep. "Can you please lurk somewhere else?"

Creed narrowed his eyes at her but remained silent. He stubbed his smoke out on the glass pane and left the butt on her sill then left her in peace. It was not unusual for him to visit her at night, usually remaining silent. Sometimes he would ask for a quick glow to settle his head, but most of the time it seemed that he enjoyed the view from her window, which was on the opposite side of the house. Once, when Emma had been gone for over a month, she had awaken to find him sleeping on top of the covers beside her and by dawn he had disappeared again, as though he was never there. He was quite the unusual man.

Birdy slipped out of bed and opened the top drawer to her dresser. She found the balled up letter her boss had thrown out on the plane and brought it back to her bed, wrapping her blankets around her again. She slowly opened it up and switched on her bedside lamp. He had a few false starts on the the salutations alone but had settled on one Birdy found dear. She read through the scratched out portions as well as those sentences left intact, her eyes getting wet the further she read, until her door burst open unexpectedly making her heart jump into her throat.

"I heard you readin'." Creed snatched the crumpled piece of paper from her hands and growled down at her.

"You did not." Birdy retorted.

"This is my personal correspondence, you had no right to go snoopin'." He crumpled the paper in a clawed hand.

"Don't worry, boss. Even if I told anyone, no one would believe me that Sabretooth had written a love letter."

"That's not the point, I didn't write this for your eyes. This is _personal_."

"Personal? You have no concept of personal. You walked in on me in the bathroom just the other day!" Birdy was getting irate.

"It was really important!" Creed shouted back.

"I was masturbating!" The shouting had awaken Emma and she managed to walk into the room where the commotion was coming from at just the wrong time. Instead of responding, Victor curled his mouth into a mischievous grin and shrugged.

"Why are we having a discussion about personal boundaries at five in the morning?" Emma frowned irritably. Creed growled, leaving Birdy's room to stop into one of the washrooms in order to flush the letter Birdy had squirreled away before going back to his own bedroom. "What's going on with him?"

The blonde shook her head unable to answer. Emma let out a sigh of frustration and followed her husband up to bed.


	9. Chapter 9

**Sabretooth****and****Birdy****belong****to****Marvel****, ****all****others****are****of****my****own****creation****.**

**Reviews****and****constructive****criticism****welcome****.**

When Emma had finally found the letter, she was non-the-wiser that Victor had moved it about a dozen times, looking for the perfect place for her to find it. He had settled on placing it leaning against her jewelry box perched on top of the dresser they shared.

She had gone to find a new set of earrings but promptly forgot about it when she saw the neat hand-writing of her name on the envelope. She picked it up delicately, running her fingers over the edges debating whether to read its contents or leave it until later. It was clear that Creed had left it in a place she would undoubtedly find it quickly, so if she didn't read it now, he might get offended and he didn't react well to having his pride hurt.

Emma chewed her lip then moved to her rocking chair by the window and used her nail to lift the seal of the envelope. The letter was short and entirely not what she imagined went on in her husband's mind. She was not accustomed to hearing, or in this case, reading, some of the words he used and she kept rereading some of his sentences over and over again.

The soft padding of bare feet on shag carpeting made her look up. Victor had entered the bedroom. They looked at each other, both looking a bit scared of the other for a moment, until Creed continued to the closet to change from his pyjamas into some street clothes.

"Did you write this for me?" Emma put her feet up on the rocking ottoman that came with the chair, creating a defense against him with her knees.

"Yeah." He scratched at the door frame of the closet with his back to her.

"It doesn't really sound like you." She murmured quietly. His shoulders seemed to deflate and he disappeared into the dark space looking for a shirt. "Maybe if you read it out loud to me." She tried to hand the letter to him when he re-emerged but he was not prepared to walk over to her chair to appease her.

"I ain't readin' it to you. It's embarrassin' enough as it is."

"I'm going to make you read this to me eventually." She teased.

"Fine, give it here, I'm gonna burn it!" He replied angrily, stomping over to her.

"You will do no such thing!" Emma shrieked playfully as he tried to snatch it from her. Creed had picked her up and threw her onto the bed, which creaked menacingly as she landed and he followed, landing right beside her, nearly on top of her. When they had settled she said to the ceiling, "He's my godson."

They sat up together, Victor searching for her eyes but her head was hung low. "I promised his parents that I would keep you away from him and him away from you, and they were quite explicit, that's why I haven't said anything."

"I thought we didn't keep secrets from each other." Came the grumble from his chest.

Emma laughed lightly, knowing full well that the arrangement was she was not to keep secrets from him but he would do as he pleased. Instead of pointing this out, she continued, "Gavin transferred to the campus about a year ago, and recently he's been having some problems. Seeing as his mom is out in Florida, I've been trying to help out."

Creed's eyes flashed white and a loud roar broke free from his mouth. He got up to start pacing before the bed like a caged tiger, ripping his fingers through his hair in frustration. "You have the most ridiculous sense of honour!"

"Victor, why are you getting upset?" Emma asked evenly and calmly.

"I thought you were cheatin' on me! I thought you was gonna LEAVE me! Instead you're babysittin' some punk ass priest as a good deed? You took a beatin' over all this, I nearly KILLED you!"

"Settle down." He wasn't used to her authoritative tone and that must have been why he stopped pacing. "How dare you try and make me feel guilty about this. The whole situation was innocent enough and you were the one who turned it inside out."

"You should've just told me he was family so I didn't hafta worry about it!"

"What's the point of a promise if you don't keep it, _Victor_?" They were in each other's face, snarling like animals. Emma's eyes had taken on a white glow much like his, another strange appearance of her mutant ability. Her scent told him she was close to seething and their argument had somehow become more than just about Gavin.

Creed pushed her down and she missed the bed, hitting the ground with her back. He had stormed off and it wasn't long before she heard squealing tires and the rev of a powerful engine race off the property. Birdy was standing in the bedroom doorway waiting to be invited in like a vampire. Emma had gotten up and stuffed the love letter into her bedside table angrily before meeting her friend and descending to the kitchen.

"He was just scared." Birdy finally piped up as Emma began banging around in the kitchen getting some semblance of brunch ready.

"I don't care, I can't keep making excuses for him every time he throws a fit. It's the definition of insanity; doing the same thing over and over again and expecting a different result." Finally fed up, she took the pot she was handling and started smashing it against the stove top, denting and cracking the smooth surface. Her friend watched helplessly from the other side of the kitchen.

Seeing what she had done, Emma dropped the pot into the sink and told the other that she needed to get some fresh air.

oooo

"So you're thinking about a divorce then?" Gavin asked as they sat on the bench. It was situated just off a walking path on campus and while classes were in session, it was quiet.

"I didn't say that." Emma gripped her coffee closer to her chest and shivered in the breeze. "I just said he's a giant idiot."

"Actually, your words were, 'he is such a fucking asshole and I hope he gets raped and set on fire'." The priest tried to adjust his coat over his wrist cast. Emma smiled to herself.

"I didn't say that part about getting raped."

"He broke my fucking arm and chipped a tooth." Gavin frowned.

"So how's your faith, Father?" Students started pouring out of the surrounding buildings, scurrying off to class or standing in gaggles in the path of others.

"Honestly?" He was silent for a moment and then a private smile crept across his lips. "I've been praying every day since that night. I thought he was going to kill me."

"Oh this is bad. He scared the faith back into you?" Emma shook her head, resolute in never mentioning to her husband what he had done.

"Don't make fun of me." Gavin replied irritably.

"I'm not making fun of you."

They sat in silence as the crowds died down again and the path became clear of foot traffic. "So you're doing okay then?" Emma asked finally.

"Yeah, I think so. I feel really weird, calm, you know? I think my path has been illuminated after the whole thing." When she didn't respond, Gavin shook his head and added, "It's a real hard thing to explain to someone, it sounds non-sensical when I say it out loud."

"Gav, all I care about is that you're happy." She reached over and gave him a hug, avoiding his mending arm, and planted a kiss on the portion of his face that was unbruised.

oooo

This time Emma was soaking in the tub room, drinking a glass of wine and flicking at bubbles when Victor came down the stairs and opened the room, letting out the steam and heat. She ignored his presence and continued to listen to the music she had put on.

"Saw what you did t' the stove. Guess we're gonna be eatin' out tonight." He started to undress slowly, letting her watch him. The water was hotter than he liked, but it wasn't his bath. The tub wasn't too terribly deep, but it was wide enough that he could swim a full stroke from one side to the other. Creed waded through the water over to her and took up a place next to her, his arms resting along the edge of the sunk-in tub. Emma continued to ignore him.

"You wanna go fer ribs? You like ribs." He poked her gently on the shoulder.

"I don't like ribs, _you_ like ribs." She muttered into her glass as she took another sip.

"Yeah, I like ribs. Let's go for ribs tonight."

"No thanks." Creed let a sigh out through his nose and began tapping his claws against the porcelain tiles.

"You wanna get ribs to -"

"No."

"Don't make me go for sushi. I fuckin' hate eatin' with little pieces o' wood."

Emma pushed her empty glass aside and stood up, making her way to her towel, but he grabbed her wrist gently and beckoned her back, pulling her down into his lap. He didn't talk but he wouldn't let her leave either, so she sat and waited and let him trace his claws along her shoulders and collar bone, down to her breasts and then back up to her jawline. Finally she look him in the eye.

"You know I'm the jealous type."

"That doesn't make it right for you to lose your mind."

"I'm tryin' to apologize here."

Emma tried again to get out of the tub and Creed let her go. "Funny, it doesn't sound like 'I'm sorry', it sounds like 'this is your own damn fault'." She opened the door with a towel wrapped around her and started up the stairs.

"Emma! Emma! Fine, we'll have sushi, just, friggin' wait!" A deluge of water followed him out of the tub as he ran up the stairs after her, catching her on the main staircase and holding her tight so she would stay and listen. "'Kay, you're right, I'm a jerk. I should have trusted you. I'm...I'm sorry."

She shrugged him off and continued up the stairs while Birdy appeared from the kitchen to find him naked and sopping wet, looking angry. He roared up the staircase as the bedroom door closed shut.

"Boss, you can't just say some magical words and expect things to go back to normal."

"What is this? Touched by a fuckin' angel? Get the hell outta my face!" He took a swipe but the space between them was too great and he only cut through the air.

"You want me to order some sushi?" Birdy frowned at him, no longer phased by her boss running around naked as the day he was born.

"Yeah, order the damn sushi - I'll go pick it up." He sighed.

"Make sure you put some pants on first, boss." She turned her back and walked back into the kitchen before he could respond.


	10. Chapter 10

**Sabretooth****and****Birdy****belong****to****Marvel****, ****all****others****are****of****my****own****creation****.**

**Reviews****and****constructive****criticism****welcome****.**

Birdy had laid all the sushi pieces out on to decorative serving plates and was pouring the kettle out into the tea pot when Creed came to pick up the dinner trays. One of the best things about being in Vancouver was the abundance of fresh fish and the smell made his mouth water against his earlier protests.

He hunkered over the kitchen island with his head hung low in defeat as he said, "Birdy, what do I do?" Her advice was usually unsolicited but sound.

She shook her head and shrugged, unable to answer him this time. "I guess the best you can do is roll over and submit right now."

Submission was against his better judgement and rubbed him the wrong way but wasn't he already half way there, pining for forgiveness? He picked up the trays quietly and exited the kitchen. The bedroom door presented a challenge as his hands were occupied but the door was shut firmly. He reached out and turned the knob while balancing one tray on his forearm, the green tea threatening to spill and burn, but somehow he managed to fake gracefulness and no one was the wiser as he walked up the steps into their bedroom where Emma was sitting out on the bed.

"If yer good, I'll let ya eat the sushi off o' me."

"I'm not really in the mood to pick your body hair out of my dinner." She murmured distractedly, turning the page to a well loved edition of _Pride__ & __Prejudice_. The copy was ancient and stirred a memory deep within him that he couldn't quite ferret out.

With a deep breath, he placed the trays down on the coffee table of their sitting area near the balcony and poured them both a cup of tea before carrying over the first plate of nigiri and soy sauce to the bed.

"Can we talk, please?"

The words 'talk' and 'please' made Emma pause and put her book down. She took the food he brought her while he sat on the edge of the bed exacerbated, head in his hands.

"I did wrong by you." Creed began, talking to his hands. "You ain't never given me a reason to think you would leave me and I've done plenty o' things to deserve it, I know. Can ya forgive me for bein' such a dumbass?"

Emma ate a piece of fish before responding. "I think you can do better than that."

Frowning, he tried to think of something else to add to his apology. "If I said you had a beautiful body, would you hold it against me?"

"Okay, you're actually back tracking now. Can I give you something to read to me?" Without waiting for his response, she took another bite of sushi and dusted her hands off. The drawer to her nightstand opened and she pulled out the letter he had left her, followed by a stack of cards and letters held together by a pink ribbon. She pulled on one end and the bow unfurled, releasing the contents. Sorting through it all Emma found what she was looking for and handed a letter folded into thirds to him then sat back, pulling dinner back into her lap and continued to eat.

Victor looked it over and noted how old the paper was. It unfolded stiffly but remained intact and he noticed the familiar handwriting. He read through it once and cringed. "Can I just roll over and show you my stomach like a submissive dog instead?"

"Maybe later, read it." Her empty plate was moved off to the side and Emma rearranged her position on the bed in her pyjamas.

"Yer killin' me, here."

"Get out," Emma pushed at his shoulder to get him to move from the bed. "Get out!"

"Alright, fine! I'm readin' it!" He shouted back, getting up from the bed and away from her. Facing away, he took a breath and began;

"_My little rabbit,_

_Today I woke up and you were there beside me and it made me happy. I want to make you just as happy to see me. I love you._

_Also, enjoy the carp._

_Lovingly,_

_Victor_

Was I seven when I wrote this?"

"I think you were significantly older by then. The carp was good though." Emma smiled.

"I love you, have some fish." Creed mocked himself. "This is the most ridiculous thing I've ever written."

"No, I have that over here." She flipped through some more letters and pulled out a second one which was in his scrawl while learning to write. It simply said 'your breasts are great'.

"I'm a poet. What are you doin' with all o' these?" He handed the letters back to her.

"I keep everything you write me." The cards and letters were centred on the ribbon again as she spoke.

"Everythin'?"

To prove her point, Emma stood up and opened a drawer to the antique writing desk facing the far corner window of the bedroom and pulled out yet another sheet of paper. "'Birdy is god-knows-where, pick up my dry cleaning.'"

"You have problems."

"Yeah? Well it's these ridiculous little notes that let me know you love me." She threw it back into the desk and slammed the drawer closed.

"Whaddya mean, I tell you I love you all the time." Creed looked offended.

"Like when?" Emma crossed her arms.

"Last week." Came his response right off the top of his head.

"I believe the word 'fucking' was sandwiched in between 'love' and 'you'."

"Close enough, ain't it?"

"You're an idiot."

"I'm leavin'. ENJOY THE CARP!" The bedroom door slammed shut, rattling the wall briefly.


	11. Chapter 11

**Sabretooth and Birdy belong to Marvel, all others are of my own creation.**

**Reviews and constructive criticism welcome.**

Emma slept alone that night, Victor never returning home after their fight. She and Birdy were having a telepathic discussion before trying to get to sleep.

"_He actually brought you a carp?" _The blond asked incredulously.

"_It took me about a year and a half to realise that he brought me dead animals to show me he cared." _Emma mumbled.

"_My aunt had a cat like that, she'd leave dead mice on the steps to feed her. I guess it's sort of cute."_

"_I hope he doesn't bring home a dead deer..."_

"_I don't know what he brought, but he's back on the property." _Birdy alerted and cut the tele-link. Emma turned over on to her side and waited. There was no indication that he was in the house no matter how hard she strained her hearing. Her heart nearly exploded when she felt his hand on her shoulder. "For once could you act like a man and not a predator?"

"Sorry, frail, it's in my blood." Creed encroached into her space, pushing against her with his body as he crawled into her side of the bed, making her roll over into the middle, twisting her sheets and night clothes uncomfortably around her.

He was still fully clothes and his jeans were still crisp from the night air. Wrapping his legs around her sent a shiver down her spine but he began to warm up. They remained tangled in each other, both slightly confused to be in such an intimate and unusual circumstance. Even after the years they spent together as lovers, Victor had never seemed so needy as he had been in the last few days and it was evident that he was struggling inside as well as out with his new emotions.

A small nip on her shoulder drew her attention away from the irritable sensation of her underwear digging into her thigh. "I love you." It was mumbled into her shoulder, quietly, resentfully. Emma tried to twist around to face him in his death grip embrace, but only made it on to her back. He watched her with an ornery glint in his eyes and his muscles tense. She struggled to finish turning in his arms and noticed he was grinding his teeth when her face finally met his.

"Say it again."

Creed considered her request, his jaw muscles working to sand his teeth down to nubs until he sighed through is nose and took a deep swallow. Emma put a hand on his face and rubbed her thumb against his stubble, tracing his lower lip. As of its own accord, his forehead pressed against hers and his eyes lulled before slowing finding hers. He could see the tears forming in the corners of her eyes but she was biting down on a smile, waiting to hear him again.

"Emma Rose," Victor took her hand from his face and intertwined his fingers with hers. "I love you. Will you marry me?"

"We're already married." She whispered, letting out a soft, happy laugh, moving deeper into the embrace by wrapping her arms around his neck.

"I figured I didn't really ask you the first time." His lip twitched into a brief sheepish smile.

"Of course I'll marry you."

"You'll still have me, after all this?" His muscles relaxed around her and he pushed his face into her hair, breathing deeply of her. Her answer was a kiss.


	12. Chapter 12

**Sabretooth****and****Birdy****belong****to****Marvel****, ****all****others****are****of****my****own****creation****.**

**Reviews****and****constructive****criticism****welcome****. ****Also****, ****I****totally****just****made****up****Sabretooth****'****s****middle****name****.**

"Stop moving!" Birdy was standing on tip-toe, trying to get her boss to stop for one second while she fixed his deep red tie.

"It's fine!" Victor roared back and pushed her away for the last time.

"It's not fine. Let me pin your boutonniere on." Creed finally gave up and stood in his den with the blond straightening his suit and dusting off lint. Her short green dress sparkling as the sequins caught the early afternoon light. A knock came at the door and Gavin, now fully healed, reticently opened the door.

"Are we ready?" His suit and collar were pressed and neat, as though he had bought it all new for the event.

"Yeah, just gimme a sec." Creed cracked his neck and fingers then shook out his arms.

"Nervous?" Birdy teased as they followed the priest out to the back yard and around the pool to the decorated arch and handful of lawn chairs set up near the edge of the forest lining the back of the property.

"Shut up."

She picked up her bouquet of hybrid lilies from one of the guests, a neighbour, and waited beside the arch, grinning excitedly at Victor as he frowned hard, ignoring everything going on around him. Someone pressed play on the stereo set up on the back porch and Emma emerged from the sliding doors wearing a simple white, bare shouldered dress, grinning uncontrollably as she made eye contact with her husband.

Her little flower girl skipped ahead throwing flower petals around, unaware of the emotions swirling around her.

Birdy broke her gaze from off the bride for a moment to look over at her boss. Through her own misting eyes, she watched his tears well up, but they didn't break.

Emma handed her bouquet off to her friend and took Victor's offered hand as they stepped up to Gavin, both of their hands shaking a little.

They had chosen to write their own vows despite being witnessed by acquaintances and fellow mercenaries.

Emma gripped his hands and her tears started to fall immediately. She laughed and tried to wipe them all away but gave up quickly. "Victor. You are my biggest joy and greatest frustration. You're loud and rude and cruel. You're selfish and mean and you snore very loudly, but I could never love a man as much as I love you. I promise to never leave you, to never kick you out of bed, and to always remain faithful. If you will have me, I want to be your wife for the rest of our lives."

There was a pause before Gavin prompted Victor to share his vows. Creed cleared his throat and fished out the letter he had written from his interior pocket. It crackled as opened it and he cleared his throat again.

"My heart," he read, "we have spent a lifetime together. Growing older with you has made me realise how amazing and beautiful you are more and more each day and how lucky I am to have found you. You are the beat of my heart, my soulmate, my life. I would be honoured if you would continue to call me your husband, even when I'm more animal than man. Also, your breasts are still great."

Birdy couldn't help but laugh but she tried to stifle it behind her hand. Creed narrowed his eyes at her menacingly.

Gavin gave a half hearted smile between the couple and turned to Victor. Birdy handed them both their rings, re-cleaned for the event, and then stepped back to her position beside Emma.

"Victor Fredrick Creed, in taking the woman whom you hold by the right hand to be your lawful and wedded wife, I require you to promise to love and cherish her, to honor and sustain her, in sickness and in health, in poverty as in wealth, in bad that may darken your days, in the good that may lighten your ways, and to be true to her in all things until death alone shall part you. Do you so promise?"

"I do."

"Emma Olivia Rose, taking the man who holds you by the right hand to be your lawful and wedded husband, I require you to promise to love and cherish him, to honor and sustain him, in sickness and in health, in poverty as in wealth, in the bad that may darken your days, in the good that may lighten your ways, and to be true to him in all things until death alone shall part you. Do you so promise?

"I do." She smiled up at her husband.

"You sure?" Gavin whispered, garnering a punch from Creed to the chest. Heavy enough to make a solid thud, but light enough to keep the ceremony going.

"I'm sure Gavin." Emma dusted him off while the witnesses looked at each other nervously.

"Then I now wish you love and felicity as you both continue your journey in life together. Please, kiss your bride."

Creed obliged.


End file.
